His Homer Was a Number Cruncher

NEW YORK —  At least Tim Salmon didn’t have to fret about making a curtain call Friday night.

The Angel right fielder was almost embarrassed to come out of the Edison Field dugout on Aug. 9, reluctantly going to the top step and waving to fans who gave him a standing ovation for tying Brian Downing’s franchise record with his 222nd career home run.

But Salmon’s record-breaking homer against the Yankees, off Roger Clemens in the fourth inning of Friday night’s 9-8, 11-inning, comeback victory, was met with all the fanfare of a Cactus League single through the infield.

No announcement on the Yankee Stadium public-address system. No ovation from the crowd. No postgame press conference.

And no complaints from Salmon, who was a lot more excited about Mo Vaughn’s three-run homer to cap a five-run ninth, Darin Erstad’s game-saving catch in the 10th and Erstad’s game-winning homer in the 11th, than he was about career home run No. 223.

“I even forgot about it for a while,” Salmon said. “The excitement was in the game, the way it ended up with Mo’s homer, Erstad’s catch and homer. I didn’t mind being upstaged. I was thrilled with the way it worked out.”

Especially when he had a little more time Friday night and Saturday morning to consider the context of his homer.

“Of all the places to do it . . . if I couldn’t do it at home, I’m glad I did it here,” Salmon said. “My first home run came here off Scott Sanderson in my third game in the big leagues.

“To do it here, with all the historical aspects of the stadium and against a future Hall of Fame pitcher, was great. Now I’ve just got to add to it, to make it harder for Troy [Glaus] or whoever else comes along to pass it.”

*

Left field was a highlight-reel district Friday night, when Erstad made his memorable diving catch, but Ron Gant turned it into a danger zone in the third inning Saturday.

With runners on second and third and no outs, Gant, who made a spectacular catch before crashing into the wall in Toronto Tuesday night, dropped Jorge Posada’s liner, a play that was ruled a sacrifice fly and an error, allowing Tino Martinez to take third and Posada second.

Scott Brosius followed with a sacrifice fly to left, and Clay Bellinger lofted a fly ball over Gant’s head. Gant made the catch, and Posada tagged from second, but when Gant leaned back on the wall, Posada rounded third and scored easily from second, ahead of Gant’s rushed relay, to give Bellinger a sacrifice fly.

“There was no excuse--I thought that was the third out,” Gant said. “Even my son, who is 5 years old, knows how many outs there are. It was just a bone-headed mistake. If Ersty wasn’t yelling at me [to make a throw], I’d probably still be holding the ball.”

That marked only the third time in major league history a team had three sacrifice flies in one inning--the Yankees achieved the feat on June 29 against Detroit, and the Chicago White Sox did it on July 1, 1962, against Cleveland.

*

After Friday’s comeback against Clemens and usually invincible closer Mariano Rivera, several Angels said, “This doesn’t happen too often.” What they didn’t realize was there was hard evidence to back their hunch.

The last time the Yankees blew a five-run lead in the ninth inning and lost was on June 21, 1988, at Detroit. The last time they blew a five-run lead in the ninth and lost at home was exactly 47 years ago, on Aug. 18, 1953, when the Washington Senators erased an 8-3 deficit and beat the Yankees, 10-8.

TODAY ANGELS’ MATT WISE

(1-1, 3.31 ERA)

vs.

YANKEES’ DAVID CONE

(3-10, 6.44 ERA)

Yankee Stadium, 10 a.m. PDT

TV--Channel 9. Radio--KLAC (570), XPRS (1090).

* Update--After going 3 1/2 months without a victory, Cone, the right-hander who has been the cornerstone of a rotation that has helped the Yankees win three of the last four World Series, has won his last two starts. Wise has been a very pleasant surprise for the Angels, giving up only six earned runs in 13 1/3 innings of his first two big league starts. Yankee center fielder Bernie Williams was a last-minute scratch Saturday after he felt a slight twinge in his right rib cage during batting practice.